No band embodies the spirit of black metal like Mayhem. In the wake of violence and scandal, the Norwegians set the standard for the genre with their canonical 1994 debut. Other influential acts were quick to follow in their footsteps, but these iconoclasts defied convention by making a truly bold statement on the Grand Declaration of War.
“This record means a lot”, its chief sonic architect, Blasphemer, told Outburn during a recent retrospective on the band’s long-since-debated second album. “It built a foundation, not only for me personally, but it also built a new foundation for Mayhem“.
Today, Season of Mist is celebrating the album’s 25th anniversary with a special edition of Grand Declaration of War. Along with the original master, this sunburst colored gatefold LP includes new silver hot foil packaging, a double-sided poster, and an embroidered leather patch.
“For Season of Mist, there was a before and an after Grand Declaration of War“, says the label’s founder and manager, Michael Berberian. “This is probably the first true classic album we ever released, the one that put us on the map. And what an album. Talk about unexpected. Talk about daring”.
Pre-order the album here.
On Grand Declaration Of War, Mayhem continued to bow down for no one, even themselves. The band was cold-blooded as ever on merciless cuts like “A Time To Die”, but their arsenal of blast beats and tremolo picking was strengthened by an increase in command. Written in collaboration between newly appointed guitarist Blasphemer and vocalist Maniac, the album didn’t expand so much as it invaded territory that was then believed off-limits: spoken word (“View From Nihil”), trip-hop (“A Bloodsword And A Colder Sun”), soundscapes of doom (“Completion In Science Of Agony”).
No matter how they choose to impose their will, after 25 years of Grand Declaration of War, there’s still nowhere that Mayhem fear to tread.
